


I've loved the stars

by RonnieMinor



Series: I am not an unimaginable thing [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Fluff, LET'S TALK ABOUT FEELINGS, M/M, discussions of childhood, tinged with angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-14
Updated: 2012-09-14
Packaged: 2017-11-14 05:55:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/512037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RonnieMinor/pseuds/RonnieMinor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>‘I was scared of the dark when I was little’, Stiles says finally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I've loved the stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jollypuppet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jollypuppet/gifts).



> Title is taken from a quotation by Galileo. It's awesome. 
> 
> Vaguely set some time after S2. Maybe like a year later?

Isaac wakes up in the night, the bed empty beside him, the sheets cool to his touch. He breathes in the darkness and silence for a few moments, then gets up, dragging on a shirt over his sleep pants and heading out. His bare feet slap slap slap softly against the wooden stairs in the stillness of the house. Somewhere two floors above him, Derek shifts and stirs slightly, then falls back into sleep, satisfied that nothing is wrong. 

The floorboards in the hall still creak no matter how you tread on them. Isaac walks soft, but doesn’t worry too much about the noise, just carrying on in his journey. The front door, by comparison, opens silently as a summer breeze. He drifts out into the night, the forest alive around him, heady scents of earth and plants and prey fighting to catch his attention. He listens to the deer half a mile away and is momentarily tempted by the siren song of its flesh. Then he tamps down, _hard_ , on the wolf, letting the human in him rise to the surface again. 

Stiles is sitting on the hood of the jeep, back against the windshield, head resting comfortably as he stares up at the sky. He doesn’t say anything as Isaac approaches, which could be an indication that he’d rather be alone, but is more likely an affirmation that Isaac’s presence is permitted. Smoothly, Isaac pulls himself up beside Stiles and they sit in comfortable quiet for a while, looking up into the night. 

‘I was scared of the dark when I was little’, Stiles says finally. ‘I thought there were monsters in the closet, boogeymen under the bed, all that jazz. I used to pretend to go to sleep and then read under the covers until I fell asleep. My mom only found after my teacher called her into school to tell her that I kept falling asleep in class.’ 

The pause that follows his words has an almost anticipatory feeling to it, so Isaac asks, ‘What happened?’ 

Stiles shrugs. ‘For a month or so Mom sat in my room and talked to me until I fell asleep. Then we stopped talking; she’d just sit there until I went to sleep. Eventually I stopped even needing her to stick around after she tucked me in. I don’t know whether it was because she’d shown me that the monsters wouldn’t get me or because I grew out of being scared, but it was less than six months until I slept just fine.’ Out of the corner of his eye, Isaac sees Stiles turn his head to look at him. ‘What about you?’ 

Isaac also shrugs. ‘I shared a room with Camden until I was six. If I was ever scared, he’d tell me stories about superheroes and how they faced up to their fears. In the end, between wanting to be a superhero and wanting him to be proud of me, I just got over it. I worshipped him, y’know?’ 

Stiles’ hand finds his and laces their fingers together. ‘I know.’ Then, ‘Dude, your story is so much more badass than mine. I mean, superheroes and cool older brother versus mom? You win hands down.’ 

Isaac tugs on his hand. ‘I like your story’, he says. ‘I like it when you talk about your mom.’ Stiles rolls his eyes. ‘Sure you do.’ 

‘I do!’ Isaac says indignantly. ‘I like the way you sound when you tell me about her.’ 

‘What, pathetic?’ 

Isaac rolls his eyes. ‘ _No_. You sound… reverent. Like she was something precious.’ 

Stiles looks back up at the sky. He says, ‘She was.’ 

There’s a long pause after that. 

‘I’m still scared sometimes’, Isaac says finally, pushing words quietly into the air. Stiles nods. 

‘Me too. But it’s not the same now.’ 

Isaac gives a wry smile, even though Stiles isn’t looking at him. ‘No, it’s not’, he agrees. Stiles chuckles. 

‘Man, I wish monsters in the closet were the only problem…’ Then he takes a deep breathe, like he’s psyching himself up. ‘When I can’t sleep these days it’s because I feel like the moment I close my eyes something’s going to attack us.’ 

Isaac tries to think of something comforting to say. He comes up with nothing, and silence falls again. 

Stiles breaks it this time. 

‘I’ve always liked the stars’, he says. ‘When I was a kid, I had this little telescope in my room and this really awesome astronomy book. And when I couldn’t sleep – even after I stopped being scared of the dark – I’d sit at my window and look at all the constellations. I guess it sounds kind of stupid, but I really liked knowing all the stars were out there. And the aliens, of course.’ 

Isaac laughs affectionately at that. ‘You are such a nerd.’ Then he squeezes Stiles’ hand. ‘A couple of years back, when we had that Physics project on the solar system, I found this really cool quotation from Galileo. Want to hear it?’ 

Stiles snorts. ‘No. But you’re going to tell me anyway.’ Isaac elbows him in the ribs. 

‘Asshole.’ He grins. ‘You’re right though.’ Stiles groans. 

‘Fine, fine, tell me the ‘really cool’ Galileo quotation.’ 

Isaac chuckles, then recites, ‘I’ve loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.’ 

A moment or two passes. 

‘Ok, so that is pretty cool’, Stiles says, sounding grudgingly impressed. A corner of Isaac’s mouth lifts in a smile as he stares up into the night. 

‘I told you.’ Then he gets up on one elbow and leans over to drop a soft kiss on Stiles’ lips. ‘Come back to bed.’ 

Stiles slips his free hand into Isaac’s hair and pulls him down for another kiss. ‘Ok’, he says. ‘But only if we get to talk about superheroes.’ 

Isaac grins. ‘Sure’, he says. ‘I can do that.’ 

And they slip back into the house, hand in hand, leaving the stars to keep watch over the dark.


End file.
